Beach Bums hold on for wild win
June 3, 2006 - Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
Doug Garcia paced the offense with five RBI and Al Roach made a leaping, game-saving catch at the wall to close it out as the Traverse City Beach Bums (5-5) snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating the Gateway Grizzlies (5-5), 7-6, before an enthusiastic crowd of 4,097 on Saturday night at Wuerfel Park. Ryan Gehring worked into the seventh inning to pick up his first Beach Bums win, defeating former Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand Todd Stein.
After the Grizzlies scratched across a run in the top of the eighth inning, the Beach Bums held a slim 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the frame. Al Roach bounced a one-out infield single down the third base line, and Kevin White followed by trickling an infield single towards the hole on the left side. Following the scratch singles, Garcia tattooed a three-run down the right field line, the first home run blasted by a Beach Bums player at Wuerfel Park. The long ball gave the Beach Bums a 7-3, and looked to put the game out of reach.
But the Grizzlies fought back against Beach Bums closer Jordan Thomson, who was coming off of his first loss of the season on Friday night. David Arnold popped a bloop single into shallow left, and then Kevin House drilled a two-run homer to left-center. After Greg Isaacson drew a walk, Thomson quickly retired the next two batters to bring the Beach Bums one out from victory. But Alex Stewart and Brooks Colvin followed with consecutive singles, slicing Traverse City's lead to 7-6 and chasing Thomson from the game.
Lefthander Kevin Joslyn entered to face pinch hitter Mike Wirth, Gateway's regular designated hitter. After a first-pitch strike, the Wirth pulled a towering fly ball down the left field line. Roach sprinted under it and leapt as he reached the warning track, reeling in a backhanded grab at the wall to seal the victory for the Beach Bums.
With the win, Traverse City pulls even in the Eastern Division standings with the second-place Kalamazoo Kings, who lost to the Chillicothe Paints on Saturday night. Chillicothe has won seven straight games and owns a 9-1 record, best in the Frontier League.
Traverse City tallied first on Saturday night, scoring in the third inning on a Justin Holmes sacrifice fly and a two-out single from Mike Reese. The Grizzlies tied it up in Mike Breyman's two-run triple in the sixth inning, before Garcia answered with a two-out double to extend Traverse City's lead to 4-2 in the bottom half of the frame.
Gehring was sharp for Traverse City, allowing two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings to nab his first Traverse City win. Stein allowed four runs (three earned) and struck out seven in 5.2 frames as he was charged with the loss.
Holmes, who had an eight-game hitting streak entering Saturday night, went 0-for-4 as the streak came to an end. His best chance came in the seventh inning, when he was cut down by catcher Jason Arrowood on a bunt attempt.
Frontier League Stories from June 3, 2006
- Wild Things Drop First Game of Three Game Set to Riverhawks 3-2 - Washington Wild Things
- Grizzlies comeback falls short - Gateway Grizzlies
- Beach Bums hold on for wild win - Traverse City Beach Bums
- RiverHawks edge Wild Things - Rockford RiverHawks
- Rascals to step up to the plate to fight breast cancer - River City Rascals
- Steelers Softball Knock Out Wild Thing Allstars - Washington Wild Things
- Freedom Bats Fail to Come Alive, Fall 5-0 - OSC Original by Andrew Kappes
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
